


Projection, but Literally

by tylerno



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Babies, Babies Are Screaming, Baby Ino, Baby Sakura - Freeform, Because That's All They're Good For, Canon-Typical Violence, Depression, Everyone Has Issues, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Haruno Sakura-centric, Healthy Relationships, I Don't Know How To Pace My Writing, I'm Sorry, Isekai, JUST, Kid Uchiha Itachi, M/M, No Uchiha Massacre, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Realistic Depiction Of Depression, Reincarnation, SI/OC, Self-Hatred, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert, Self-Sacrifice, Slow Burn, Sort of? - Freeform, The OC Doesn't Immediately Have A Breakdown, This is gonna end up being like 200k words, Toxic Relationships, Trauma, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Why Did I Write This?, baby sasuke - Freeform, if i dont lose motivation that is, like a REALLY slow burn, please motivate me omg, why is everyone is gay a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:07:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25460626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tylerno/pseuds/tylerno
Summary: Haruno Michirou was born a normal boy, but that doesn't mean he stayed that way. Between visions of the future (?) and visions of a separate world - a previous world - it's a wonder he didn't lose it at age ten. Besides, what's the point of learning from a previous life if the knowledge stops applying?ORMaybe the him of Before would have made different choices, but he's not that person anymore.
Relationships: Eventual Uchiha Itachi/Original Character(s), Eventual Uchiha Itachi/Original Male Character(s), Uchiha Itachi & Original Character(s), Uchiha Itachi & Original Male Character(s), Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke & Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Sasuke & Uchiha Shisui
Comments: 24
Kudos: 97





	1. PROLOGUE: Enter and Exit, Pink and Blue!

**Author's Note:**

> Why do tags take so long to make??? I hate it here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I was halfway through chapter one when I realized that it was, in fact, incredibly boring. So, I present to you, a prologue, in which I frantically try to impress upon you that chapter one is boring on purpose. So just. Hang in there lmao  
> The prologue is a glimpse into the future, so don't freak out if you don't know what's going on :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can Kishimoto just like,,, stop messing with the timeline  
> There are two different sources saying Kakashi was 6-7 when he was promoted to chunin vs being 12, so like. I'm just fudging as I go.
> 
> Also, fight scenes are my weakness. Pls give me criticism, and not just on the fight lol
> 
> UNEDITED - I wrote this all in one go
> 
> Ok I'm done talking

A single black boot made contact with a moonlit branch, pushing off again and sending Michi forward to the next tree. There wasn't a rustle of leaves or audible footsteps to give away his position, making his travel impossible to track. A black robe concealed his figure, red clouds decorating it, but it was clear that he was of an unfortunate height, made all the more obvious when compared to one Hoshigaki Kisame, who was dressed similarly.

For a moment, they ran silently, not even breathing loud enough to penetrate the silence.

"Are you sure we can't kill those guys? Not even a little bit?" Kisame needled, definitely not whining _no matter what Michi says._

Haruno Michirou blinked, very slowly, never slowing down or fumbling, in an effort to preserve his patience. Hoshigaki may be a good drinking buddy, but his bloodthirsty tendencies could be a little much sometimes.

Before his partner could respond, Kisame opened his mouth and continued talking. (No, that's okay, Shark Boy. We aren't trying to be stealthy or anything.)

"We got done early and everything, so we have the time. And it's the easiest way to get them off our tail, not to mention how fun it would be after that _boring_ mission."

"Kisame, this is a stealth mission. In quietly, out quietly. Killing village shinobi would just cause trouble for us in the future."

"Not if we don't leave any survivors."

"No, Sharky."

Kisame said nothing for a long while, frowning as Samehada shuddered in disappointment.

Slashed Kiri and Konoha metal gleamed in the moonlight.

"Well, whatever you say. I'm not running away if they catch up."

Michi sighed and raised a blood-caked middle finger at Kisame, eliciting a short, startled laugh.

A shuriken (high quality, black metal, expensive) tore through the trees. Both men dropped to the ground, leaving the projectile to get stuck where Kisame's foot had been moments before as they landed on the ground. The crunch of dead leaves underfoot seemed louder than an explosion, but silence wasn't a priority anymore.

Five figures appeared into the all-too-convenient clearing to join them: two adults and three children no older than twelve.

Namikaze Naruto clutched a familiar three-pronged kunai, fuuinjutsu tag earrings waving in the slight breeze that trickled in through the leaves. His blond hair was wind ruffled and messy, and his lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl that would be intimidating on an adult, but was only sort of cute on the preteen. He wore mostly navy blue and black, though the collar of his shirt was orange. He smelled faintly of ramen.

Haruno Sakura seemed to be holding back tears, shaking as she formed chakra scalpels. Her hair was the shortest out of her company, styled in a cute pixie cut that looked somehow untouched by the travel. She wore a deep red haori over a navy shirt with skintight black leggings underneath. Emerald green eyes soaked in the sight of her older brother greedily. Her lips trembled around an attempt at a scowl.

Uchiha Sasuke had his Sharingan active with two tomoe in each eye. His hair was medium long, with most of it gathered in a ponytail at the top of his head. His gaze was a confusing mix of angry and sad, like he couldn't quite decide between the two. He wore all black, and had the Uchiha crest displayed on the shoulder of each shirt sleeve. He held a chokuto sword in a ready position, the straight edge of the blade gleaming in the moonlight. He appeared to be trying to shine the light into Kisame's eyes. A tanto hung from the hip opposite of the chokuto's sheath.

Hatake Kakashi's two dark eyes were narrowed in a cool glare. He stood in a way that allowed him to quickly move between the two missing nin and his students, but was otherwise deceptively relaxed. His signature r-18 book was nowhere in sight, and he was dressed in standard jonin attire. 

Michi, standing tall (well, short, but you know what I mean) with his arms at his sides, refused look at the fifth figure, or to even acknowledge that they existed. Instead, he allowed these newcomers a moment to breathe and take in the sight of himself and his partner (red clouds, dead eyes, a razor sharp grin, green eyes), standing before them.

"Friend Killer Kakashi, toting around genin. I never thought the rumors would hold any merit," Michi intoned, tilting his head slightly in a bastardization of a polite greeting. At some point in the last few minutes, his cloak had fallen open, red clouds parting to show black hakama tucked into the bandages wrapped around his lower legs and a simple white shirt. "If I'm not mistaken... Uchiha Sasuke. Uzu- ... Namikaze Naruto. And..."

Michi's green eyes wandered over to a smaller, female version of himself. He saw himself in the curve of her nose, the shade of her hair, the pain in her eyes.

Kisame chose this moment to make his voice known, starting with a low whistle.

"Damn. The brat looks just like you. A younger sister, I'm guessing?" The Kiri defector hefted Samehada from where it was holstered and rested the bandaged blade on his shoulder. His grip on the hilt was confident.

"Don't act like you don't know us," the fifth person spoke sharply, barely containing the spite in his tone. Michi finally turned to face him.

Uchiha Itachi's eyes roamed hungrily, as if he had been starving and the sight of Haruno Michirou was a filling meal. Pink hair in clear need of a haircut fell around his shoulders with a small section braided on one side. The bags under his eyes made the small smile playing at his lips seem more haunted than teasing. He hadn't grown much since Itachi had last seen him.

Despite himself, Itachi felt something ache like relief in his chest.

Kisame's eyes wandered to the side, watching the side of Michi's face.

"Y'alright if I kill them?"

Michi waved a hand. (A ring glinted in the dark.) "You can sure try. Between Cold Blooded Kakashi and Itachi of the Sharingan, you'd be lucky to escape alive. Plus, we don't know if anyone else is coming."

"The obvious solution here is that you also fight."

"I'd really rather not. I'm tired, after doing all that work."

"Yeah, well, who's the one who was going on and on about wanting to do things the stealthy way? You wouldn't let me do anything, so it's your own fault if you're a little worse for wear."

"Suiton: Exploding Water Shockwave isn't exactly subtle!"

"Michi-nii...!" Sakura chose this moment to step forward, chakra scalpels still at the ready. Her face was pinched, but her voice was clear. "Just come home. You don't have to do this anymore. I'm sure- I mean, Yondaime-sama is very forgiving. We can figure this out."

"Like hell!" Sasuke spat, tomoe spinning. "He killed tou-san!"

Michi spared them no more than a cursory glance, clearly dismissing the both of them. It was too late for him, anyway. (Naruto was oddly quiet.)

"Kakkun, I thought you would know better than to bring kids into this. I mean, I knew you had a track record of losing team members..." The Haruno man clicked his tongue, shaking his head. The familiar nickname tasted like erosion and too-bitter tea.

"Maa, Micchan," Kakashi returned, his voice like ice, "I think Itachi and I can handle a fish and a wannabe criminal."

Like that, everyone burst into movement. Itachi was the fastest, hands flashing through hand signs, then rising to his mouth.

" _Katon, Great Fireball_!"

Michi leapt up and back, with Kisame close behind, grumbling something about being a shark, not a fish, dammit. The clearing exploded into flame, and cleared before anyone hit the ground. Distantly, Michi could hear Kakashi telling the kids to stay back, but he was too focused on blocking flying shuriken with a kunai. Kisame had dashed forward on his other side, headed for the remaining four Konoha nin.

Itachi dodged the projectiles sent back his way, getting in close with his opponent and sweeping a leg down low. Michi jumped to dodge, then grabbed Itachi's other foot when the Uchiha used his momentum to follow through with a spin. Itachi wrenched his foot away, a tanto suddenly in his hand and heading rapidly for Michi's gut, but it was deflected with the kunai that was still clenched in his hand.

They traded blows in this manner for some time, a mix of kenjutsu and taijutsu, both evenly matched with the other.

Just like the spars they used to have.

The Konoha nuke-nin spared a glance to the other side of the clearing, where Kisame was locked in a ninjutsu showdown. Kakashi was on the defensive, clearly trying to shield three children who wanted nothing more than to fight.

"Your fight is right in front of you!" Itachi roared, his fist connecting with Michi's face, sending him flying through one tree and bouncing like a deflated rubber ball off of another. Itachi was on him before he could struggle to his feet, gathering a fistful of the black collar on the Akatsuki cloak and slamming Michi harshly against the bark. 

Michi coughed a little as the breath was forced out of his lungs, eyes screwed shut against the pain. When he opened his eyes, his line of vision was filled with Itachi Itachi Itachi.

Itachi's three tomoe Sharingan is fully active, eyes suspiciously wet and framed by long, dark lashes. His tear ducts were are pronounced as ever, made only more severe looking by the frown painted over Itachi's lips. The two sections of his hair that were too short to reach the ponytail at the base of his neck hung in front of his face. While one of his hands was fisted in Michi's cloak, the other was placed next to Michi's head, on the bark of the tree he was leaning on. Itachi's knees bracketed Michi's thighs.

"Why did you do it?" Itachi's eyes were wide, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

The Haruno felt his heart hammering in his chest, and fell back on something familiar to ease the anxiety of being bested so easily; namely, teasing.

"Oh, is this the famous kabe-don?"

Michi delighted in the bright red flush that spread over his attacker's face, indulging in a wide grin.

"Shut up," Itachi hissed through clenched teeth. "Start talking."

"So, do you want me to shut up, or start talking?"

Michi couldn't bring himself to regret his snark, even when Itachi slammed him back against the trunk again, looking close to committing some _real_ violence.

"You know what I mean!"

Foreign chakra - not foreign, Itachi's - entered Michi's system when they made eye contact. Itachi visibly startled with it was forcibly ejected.

"How did you do that?" The Uchiha breathed. His grip only tightened.

"Sad that your genjutsu won't work on me? Believe me, me too. I wish it would. That Mangekyo nonsense is pretty handy. Any chance I could borrow it?"

"Stay on track, Haruno. There are other ways I can hurt you. Tell me why you killed tou-san. Tell me where his eyes are."

Michi tilted his head back slightly when Itachi's tanto - he had forgotten about that, dammit - pressed close against his throat. Instead of spilling all his dirty little secrets, though, the pink haired man smiled a little, green eyes flashing with something unidentifiable. 

"Pinning me against a tree, calling me by my last name, and now a sharp threat? Mou, you act like we aren't friends."

"You're the one who wouldn't even look at me earlier," Itachi gritted out, his voice scratchy. " _Dammit_ Michi - why are you doing this? I defended you, told them it was a misunderstanding, that you would never... And now you're running around with some weird S-Rank cult."

Itachi's voice cracked, the tanto inching away slowly.

"What am I supposed to think? What changed? Why did you do it?"

All humor drained from Michi's face, leaving a blank, cold mask. When he blinked, it was slowly, like he was gathering his thoughts. Itachi waited, holding his breath. He couldn't feel Michi shaking beneath him, like he would have done years ago.

Michirou's lips parted -

"What makes you think this wasn't my plan from the beginning?"

\- and Itachi felt his world shatter.

Before he could process, before he could react, Michi jerked upward and headbutted Itachi hard enough to make him see stars. Itachi fell backwards.

When he sat up, Michirou and his shark buddy were gone, leaving a battered but still standing Kakashi and three unconscious genin.

Itachi only managed to move again when he registered the blood pooling rapidly around Sasuke's head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things to note:  
> Kakashi has "two dark eyes," meaning no Sharingan. Does that mean Obito never "died," or does it mean that Obito never gave Kakashi his eye?   
> Sakura wants her older brother to come home, but Sasuke hates the idea, because Michi killed Fugaku. Did he really? If so, why?  
> Itachi is still a ninja of Konoha, meaning he never defected.  
> Sakura mentions "Yondaime-sama," meaning Minato is still alive.  
> Michi calls Kakashi "Kakkun" and is called "Micchan" in return. How far back do Hatake and Haruno go?  
> And uh. Sexual tension, anyone? 
> 
> Pls comment n let me know what you think, even if it's to tell me that this is awful and I should quit lmaoaooaoaoo


	2. Arc I, Part 1 - Konohagakure no Sato: Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itachi begins to explain how things got to this point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One source says Kakashi was promoted to chunin at 6/7, and other says 12. I'm just gonna say that Kakashi takes the chunin exam at 12, because I would like to think that Hiruzen would hesitate to make a 6/7 year old have that much responsibility, no matter how talented.  
> So my official-unofficial timeline for him is graduating academy at 5, promoted at 12, jonin at 13.  
> Also, I'm only partway into shippuden, but I've been in the Naruto scene since like 2014. All of my information is based either on things I gleaned from the 40 million Naruto fanfics I've read, or the narutopedia. You've been warned.

Naruto was the first to wake up after the fight with the Akatsuki pair - with Michirou. His Uzumaki stamina had him up within minutes, fast enough that Itachi hadn't even finished wrapping bandages around Kakashi's injured thigh.

"Ah- Kakashi-sensei! Itachi!" He woke with a jolt, on his feet fast enough to send blood rushing to his head. Naruto stumbled, cursing, then looked around when his vision cleared.

On his left was Sakura-chan, who was unconscious and low on chakra, but otherwise seemed pretty much okay. On his right was Sasuke-teme, and he looked... well, he'd seen better days. His head was wrapped up, the bandages already showing dots of red where blood had soaked through, and there was a rip in his shirt big enough to show that his shoulder wasn't much more than a mess of purple and red. When Naruto closed his eyes and sent out a curious line of chakra - of which he was running low on, he was loathe to admit- he noticed that Sasuke's disconcertingly empty reserves were still pumping chakra to his closed eyes, betraying an active Sharingan.

"Itachi-" Naruto made an aborted motion towards the elder Uchiha. "- the bastard's Sharingan is still on. He's gonna-" die "- he'll run out of chakra, 'ttebayo."

Itachi tied off Kakashi's bandages more violently than was called for, abruptly paling and rushing to his brother's side. He pried Sasuke's eyelids apart. Naruto was suddenly struck by how much alike the two looked, made more obvious by identical red sharingan.

Everything was sort of a blur after that. Kakashi had been oddly drawn and quiet, even after he summoned his huge dog, Bull, to help him walk. Itachi carried Sasuke, and Naruto had Sakura dumped on his back, piggy-back style. They took to the trees with no further ado, barreling forward at a speed that Naruto could barely keep up with.

Naruto barely had the energy to think, much less talk, but he needed to do something other than stare at Sasuke - unconscious, too still, dead to the world.

He opened his mouth.

"What happened?"

When Itachi didn't speak, Kakashi sighed - a sharp, irritated thing - from where he was taking up the rear.

"What _happened_ was that a certain Uchiha saw something out of his league and decided to chase it down, knowing he had no chance alone and thus endangering three children."

Naruto looked to Itachi, but the teen didn't respond other than to clench his jaw.

"Well, I know that much, sensei. I mean like after that. Who were those guys?"

Kakashi sighed again and didn't respond for a long moment, the arm around Bull's shoulders flexing. Naruto let him have his time, knowing all too well what happens if you push a person that was already struggling with anger.

"Haruno Michirou, a missing nin from Konoha, and his... partner, or something. Hoshigaki Kisame. Itachi went after them because he- or, we- used to know Haruno."

Naruto squinted, thinking over this for a minute. There were several questions to ask, but one at a time would have to suffice. "The pink one was a dude?"

"Not everyone with long hair is a girl, Naruto."

"Haruno? Like Sakura-chan?"

"Yes. Haruno, like Sakura. He's her older brother."

"She never mentioned him before, dattebayo."

"I imagine she didn't want to talk about it. It's a painful subject for everyone."

"You 'n' Itachi knew that jerk?"

At this, Itachi chose to interject.

"He was my- ... _friend_. The kindest person I knew, not to mention a genius." Itachi's voice got quieter as he spoke, and Naruto had to funnel chakra into his ears to hear his final remark. "I don't know what happened."

For a long moment, Naruto focused on the sound of rushing leaves and the wind in his ears, trying to process. He could feel Sakura's hair tickling his ear and jaw. Pink. Like her brother's. He wondered if she had cut it short because of something involving her brother.

Finally, Naruto managed to speak around the cotton in his mouth.

"Why'd he leave?"

Kakashi took charge again here. "No one really knows. He... did some pretty awful things. It was a very sudden change. Itachi was right; Haruno was very kind before that point."

Itachi bit his lip. "He said he'd been planning it since the beginning." Apparently this was news to Kakashi, because he made an interested sound.

"The beginning?" Naruto blinked, nose wrinkling.

"Well, since you're so curious, I guess I should tell you about it." Itachi didn't huff a laugh like he normally did after saying such a thing. "The beginning, huh... Well.

"I guess he means the _very_ beginning."

* * *

Haruno Michirou started knowing things he shouldn't when he was eighteen months old.

Since he was born, he had knocked out several Firsts with alarming speed; he took his first steps at eight months, spoke at nine months, and was able to read a handful of basic characters by the time he was one. His parents were proud of his rapid development, showing him off to just about anyone who had eyes, and bragging to anyone who had ears. Their neighbors joked that even Iwa nin would have taken rumors of magical babies with pink hair back to the Tsuchikage.

Mebuki and Kizashi laughed it off, but if they were a bit more vicious to Iwa nin on missions after that, no one mentioned it.

It wasn't often when Michirou's parents were both on missions at the same time - because they had very different specializations - but sometimes it couldn't be avoided.

They were at war, after all.

When Kaa-san and Tou-san were both gone, Michi was left at his grandmother's house. Leaving a baby unsupervised was a bad idea, but leaving a baby with an ancient, senile old crone was only marginally better.

Haruno Hiroko could barely walk without a cane and looked about one strong breeze from a grave, but she still managed to spend most of her day out and about, chatting with friends and browsing the marketplace. Like she was doing the first time Michi got into trouble. 

Hiroko only let go of her grandson's squishy hand for a moment to properly admire a necklace, but it was enough for him to slip away and be lost to the mid-afternoon crowd.

Michi was aware of his grandmother's alarmed cawing when she noticed, but he simply clutched his little stuffed octopus tighter and tottered on, tiny lips set in a determined frown. He _hated_ his grandma. She always talked to him like he was stupid. Well, he wasn't stupid, and he'd show her by doing something amazing!

Uchiha Obito was _very_ focused on his _super important_ D-rank mission and was _definitely not_ distracted by trying to gather enough courage to ask his pretty teammate out. Said teammate, Nohara Rin, was too busy gathering the courage to talk to her mysterious masked teammate to notice.

Hatake Kakashi simply stifled a sigh, walking with his back straight and always conscious of the two missives they were delivering, tucked away in a hidden pocket somewhere. While ignoring his teammates worked most of the time, it was a bit more difficult when there was literally nothing else to distract them from their tomfoolery.

Kakashi hated his team. He hated doing D-ranks. He hated their lack of respect for proper adherence to the rules and their lack of respect for themselves.

Obito had finally prepared himself enough to make his move when a tug on his pants stopped him. Looking down, he saw a baby - a literal baby, he couldn't be any older than Itachi - staring up at him with wide, green eyes. What kind of kid has pink hair?

"'Scuse me," the kid mumbled, "why are you a clone?"

Having overheard, Rin turned around, purple markings warping with her frown. Kakashi stopped, looking over his shoulder. After a moment, he turned.

"What're you talking about, chibi?" Obito sniped, jerking his leg away from the kid's grip. "Shouldn't you be with your mom or something? Jeez."

Michi paused, startled, and then promptly burst into tears.

"Good job, Obito. You made him cry," Rin sighed, scooping the random kid up before anyone else could so much as blink. Kakashi had to summon all his self control to keep from rolling his eyes.

"There, there. It's okay. The grumpy Uchiha didn't mean it, okay?"

Obito and Kakashi, for once, had something in common: neither did well with crying children. Rin seemed to have no such struggle, though, which was made all the clearer when the kid calmed to only hiccups and sniffles. He peered up at the girl with watery green eyes. Rin smiled. He smiled back, however wobbly it was.

"Clone?" He repeated, clutching his octo-plush and blinking the remaining tears from his eyes.

"No, not a clone. See? He's real-"

Rin pinched Obito's arm.

He disappeared in a poof of smoke.

30 meters behind, the real Obito suddenly paled at the sense of impending doom from where he was helping an old lady find her grandson.

"Obaa-san, I think I found him."

* * *

Mebuki returned from a mission tired, dirty, and ready to take a nap with her son. She stopped by her mother in law's house, not at all surprised to see that she wasn't home. Shoving a vitamin bar down her throat, just to keep her going long enough to hunt down her family, she set out to the jewelry section of the market.

Half of the shops in this part of the market were closed down. Wartime wasn't a great time for jewelers, and most of them had chosen to either close down and seek work elsewhere, or had repurposed into weapons shops. Mebuki found half of her target in one of the few that was still open.

"Hiroko-san," Mebuki greeted, uncaring that she had interrupted the old woman's conversation with the shopkeep.

"Ah, Mebuki-san! You're back early. How was the mission?"

"Fine. No complications." She stopped herself from defaulting into a mission report, attempting to blink sleep from her eyes. "Where's Michi?"

"Ah, I paid this adorable genin team to watch over him. I like to do my part with supporting the war effort, you know, and even though they were having so much fun with him I couldn't just let them watch him for free-"

"Thanks, Hiroko-san. I'll see you later."

Mebuki left. Maybe later she would feel bad about being so short with her husband's mother, but for now, she just wanted to hunt down her son and take that nap.

It took her nearly three hours to find him. The common haunts for babysitter genin teams had changed since she was young, so she didn't really expect to find them there. After she had searched all the new ones with no success, she switched to training grounds. Which is where she found her son. Holding a kunai. Supervised by three children.

Mebuki crouched in a tree in training ground three, watching an Uchiha brat accidentally poke himself with his own kunai in the middle of a demonstration. The only reason his whole finger didn't come off was because of his female teammate, who caught the thing and patched him up before he could do any more harm. Michi - her sweet little boy - nearly fell over himself in his attempt to make sure the Uchiha was okay.

When the Yellow Flash himself appeared suddenly next to her, Mebuki mentally high fived herself for only jumping a little bit. The branch dipped under his weight, waving like a greeting at the four figures below them. Kakashi turned his sharp eyes skyward at the movement, dismissing it when he recognized his sensei.

"I thought Uchiha were uptight about how they trained their kids," Mebuki allowed herself to say. It was a question, and one that the Namikaze readily answered with a sad smile.

"His parents died when he was young, and has been raised by his grandmother since. He... struggles in ways his clansmen don't. They've dismissed him as a lost cause."

The Haruno mother turned her face back to her kid, clicking her tongue. "Of course they did."

The two adults watched as Kakashi used up the last of his patience, finally interjecting and showing Michi the proper way to hold a kunai, as opposed to the odd, half correct methods Rin and Obito had been attempting. Once he was sure the toddler was holding it right, he put another in the kid's other hand, adjusting his grip as needed.

Rin sparkled, and Obito's jaw dropped.

Kakashi fell into a kata, talking for a moment, and then stood straight again. The toddler - Mebuki's baby, who couldn't even put on a _shirt_ by himself - copied Kakashi's stance.

"He's teaching him katas," Mebuki breathed, stunned. "And Michi is _good_ at it."

Minato didn't treat this as a happy thing. Mebuki was grateful.

* * *

"You started teaching him that early?"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, startled by her breath in his ear. 

"Hey, you, you're finally awake," Kakashi said, with something like relief in his voice. Without any verbal command, they all dropped to the ground. Sakura, despite her state, slipped right from Naruto's back and landed on her feet, strong as ever. Itachi put Sasuke down, and though he tried to hide it, Naruto could tell he was tired.

"So, what happened?"

Itachi had gone all quiet after talking for so long, and Kakashi looked about ready to pass out, so Naruto took it upon himself to explain the situation, starting with Itachi's reckless approach of two S-Rank missing nin, and ending with a brief overview of the part of the story Sakura had missed. Through it all, the pink haired girl was silent and looked kind of sad.

She didn't spend any time dwelling on it, though, instead moving to kneel beside Sasuke's prone form. She listened to his heart, checked his eyes (even if she flinched at the sight of the Sharingan), and then a bunch of other things that Naruto couldn't really keep up with. After a moment, she leaned back and looked up at Itachi. He was good at hiding it, like he was good at hiding most things, but Sakura had known him long enough to see the worry written in the lines of his shoulders.

"There are three options." Her tone was business-professional with something sharp at the edges. "The first one is a chakra transfusion. It would give him enough chakra to last until we get back home, where he could get treated by medics who had the proper supplies. It would be dangerous for us, though: none of us have much chakra. The second option would be to have either Itachi or myself place a mild genjutsu on him to get his body to relax enough to deactivate the Sharingan. I don't have the chakra for it, though..."

Itachi looked to the side in a weird Uchiha rendition of a pout. Sakura bit her cheek to keep from laughing at him.

"I don't know how to do a genjutsu like that," Itachi admitted. Sakura nodded, and Itachi was grateful that she didn't act surprised.

"Then that leaves the last option, and probably the most dangerous for him. I'll have to give his chakra coils a shock, to break the pattern of sending chakra to his eyes. It'd be painful for him, but it's the only option we have."

Itachi didn't outwardly react, but Naruto bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Sakura-chan, you're awesome and all, but... is there really no other way?"

"No, Naruto. Every other option relies on a medic that has chakra to spare. My reserves are low, thanks to that Hoshigaki bastard." Sakura snarled briefly, but then reigned in her fury with visible effort. "Alright. If no one has any other ideas...? Okay. Itachi-san, please hold his shoulders. He'll be awake for up to an hour afterward while his body adjusts to the interference. It'll do him good to see a familiar face. Naruto, you get his hands. If he starts up the Chidori while I'm operating, someone could get seriously hurt. Kakashi-sensei... no, Bull-san? Can you sit on his legs?"

"Ah, Sakura, I can-" Kakashi was interrupted by a growling whumph from deep in Bull's chest. Sakura had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but Kakashi relented, lowering himself to the ground to wait in sullen silence. Bull moved over and did as he was asked. Sakura was glad; Kakashi was hurt more badly than he let on, and she didn't want him to make it worse during the procedure.

With her gloves on and everyone in their positions, Sakura took a deep breath, then put her hands over Sasuke's face.

"Alright. I'm starting now."


	3. Arc I, Part 2 - Konohagakure no Sato: Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke wakes up, and Michi explains some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am officially raising my middle finger at canon, because it sucks and it's confusing. So, for reference, we'll say that Kakashi is a GENIN, not a chunin, and is nine at this point, as are Obito and Rin. HOWEVER, Kakashi has field experience that his teammates don't, and when you combine that with Sakumo issues, he's basically just a collage of ~trauma~ which makes him angy but also desperate for validation because he's literally not even a preteen.  
> So yeah. Writing children is difficult. Especially children that could kill me without even trying.

The first thing that greeted Sasuke as he woke was blinding, all-consuming pain; it was like he was on fire and underwater all at once, and he couldn't breathe, couldn't see, could only scream for it to stopstopstopit-

And then all at once, every muscle in his body relaxed. Sasuke sobbed with relief. He opened his eyes wide, unashamed of the tears falling to his hairline, and cried harder when his vision cleared some and revealed Itachi. "Nii-san," he gasped, trying to sit up, move his arm, anything. "Nii-san, what-"

"Shh, otouto, it's okay." Itachi's hand came to rest on Sasuke's shoulder - oh, his other shoulder is injured, Sasuke noticed, that's nice - and the pressure was grounding. The younger Uchiha closed his eyes briefly (it was safe to do so if Itachi was around) and sucked in a few shuddering breaths. After he had calmed down a bit, he realized that there were actually other people around: his team, his sensei, and a big dog (?).

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura was suddenly leaning over him, sweaty and red-faced, but alive, thank the powers that be, "you won't be able to move for a few hours. Even if you _can_ move, you _shouldn't_ , or I'll knock your brains in, got it?"

Sasuke was too tired to manage a laugh, so instead he just sniffled and nodded. There was something off about his chakra, but he was too tired to check. He closed his dry eyes as Itachi scooped him back up, and tried to go to sleep. 

It didn't work.

Sasuke wasn't sure if it was the bumpiness of the travel, or the shivering of his chakra coils, but either way, he needed something to distract him from the pain pain pain.

"Shisui-nii's gonna kill you when we get back," Sasuke managed, a smile-grimace pulling at his face. "He specifically told you not to do anything stupid."

Sasuke could feel Itachi stiffen with horror, and could hear Naruto crowing with laughter, loud as ever despite the danger they would all be in if anything went wrong.

"The bastard called you out, 'Tachi!"

"Don't call him that," Itachi said, but there was no bite to his voice. They'd had this talk many times. It was this that made Kakashi finally crack, allowing a light chuckle. (Hadn't the Hatake been injured before? When did Sakura heal him? Where had the dog gone? Haha. Doggone.)

Having fixed the mood, Sasuke felt his job was complete. Darkness finally overtook him.

* * *

Samehada had gotten a decent snack from those pups. The only thing more that Kisame could have asked for was an actual kill, or at least taking a bite from the jonin-sensei. All the same, the sword would be content for a while, so Kisame didn't really care, in the end. Though it would have been nice to kill them- but no. It was fine. But the blood- no, Kisame didn't mind.

He looked at his pink-haired partner, who was completely untouched except for the ends of his hair, which had only been singed a little bit.

Kisame knew that Michi knew that Kisame knew that Michi knew that Kisame was staring at him, but Michi let it slide for a while. And then for another while. And then a while more.

"What?" He finally snapped. "You've been staring at me for a full hour, Shark Boy."

"'What,' yourself," returned Kisame, gnashing his teeth slightly. Information was power, he knew this, and Michi was _hiding_ something from him. Unforgivable. "You were more than holding back. The hell? You kicked my ass to next week when I was recruited."

"..." Michi said nothing audibly; it was a skill he'd perfected since joining the Akatsuki. "I owed him a favor."

Kisame softened in understanding. "What favor?"

His partner turned to shoot the swordsman a sly smile. "Why? You interested in Hatake? Oo, maybe Uchiha Senior."

Kisame nearly threw up in his own mouth, feeling himself turn green. "Hatake looked _at least_ 42, and the Uchiha was eight, tops."

Michi laughed, long and loud, but something in the lines of his shoulders screamed _relief_. "Kakkun is only, oh, 30, maybe. And Itachi's the same age as me. We're both 18."

"You all were close," Kisame notices, and it isn't a question. Michi nods anyway.

"Yeah, well, things change when they accuse you of being a criminal before you can defend yourself," Michi bites out bitterly. "I don't want anything to do with them anymore."

Kisame knows the feeling. He changes the subject.

"You said you owed the Uchiha a favor. For what?"

"Well, it was a long time ago..."

* * *

Haruno Michirou turned two years old on the fourth of August.

He'd been training with Team Seven, though, officially, he was only observing. It's what he told his parents, anyway, and while Kaa-san probably knew the truth, Tou-san didn't seem to suspect anything at all.

This was the first time he had lied about something. It didn't feel as wrong as it should.

It had been getting easier to not cry about every little thing. This thrilled Kakashi and Obito, though Rin and Minato looked privately worried each time he successfully subdued his tears. They always looked worried when he did anything right, though, so he tried to ignore it.

Keyword: tried.

No matter what he did, no matter how well he learned, Rin and Minato always looked at him like he was something sad and deformed. Because of this, they didn't really teach him anything, always talking about how he was "too young for this one," or that he should wait until he was older. Obito wouldn't teach him anything because he was still mad that a kid that was barely old enough to be out of diapers saw through his clone.

Consequently, he was left with Kakashi, who seemed to have no qualms about showing him anything he wanted to see.

Michi asked him why on August fourth.

"You understand well enough. And you don't whine like Obito."

"Hey!"

"So if you're _ready_ to learn, why _shouldn't_ you?"

Michi hummed, flopping onto his bum in the dirt. He didn't really get it, but. "Can I throw the nukai today?"

"Kunai. We can can work on holding shuriken."

"Why can't I throw the nukai?"

"Kunai."

"I like nukai better."

Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment, struggling against his temper. Minato-sensei to the rescue!

"Ah, Michi-kun, you should wait until you're older to throw ku- I mean, nukai. You could hurt yourself." Minato sat down next to the stubborn toddler, offering his best, most placating smile. He looked like how sunshine felt, but this time, Michi didn't find himself calmed by it.

He'd had heard enough.

"You _always_ say that!" Michi exploded petulantly. "I'm too little to do katatas."

"Katas."

"I'm too little do hold nukai. I'm too little to do magic."

"Jutsu."

" _Magic_. Am I too little to- to eat mochi? Kakkun-" 

"It's Kakashi-"

" _Kakkun_ is only like six or seven which isn't even that much older than me and it's _not fair!"_ (Kakashi failed to hold in an offended scoff. He was _nine.)_

Michi was crying again. He hadn't done that in weeks. In an instant, Kakashi was cringing away, pure panic in his eyes as he scooted back to sit closer to Obito, who was also making a face a grumbling about something or another. Minato himself seemed relieved to see the tears, but unsure how to deal with him. Once again, Rin swooped in, pulling the toddler into her lap and rubbing his back.

"How are you so good at that?" Asked Obito, with wonder in his eyes.

"No offense, but I'm the only one here with younger siblings. Or," she mused, "with any siblings at all."

Obito nodded. Kakashi scowled. Minato just hummed thoughtfully, looking close to taking notes.

When Kizashi went to pick up his son, Michi was still red around the eyes and hiccuppy. Team Minato didn't receive any more babysitting missions for the next month and a half.

That same week after the disaster meltdown (why was everyone so upset about it? Michi was a literal baby), Michi and his Tou-san went to the park, which was really just an old training ground that had been obliterated so bad that it had been razed and repurposed. Supposedly, the Sannin, now rising in infamy in the height of the war, had been to blame.

All the same, the park was essentially a large circle of packed dirt with some common playground stuff like swings or whatever, and surrounded by Hashirama trees. Because of its location - situated between the Uchiha and Aburame Clan compounds - it was frequented by the kids of shinobi and by Academy students affiliated with either of the two Clans. It was a Saturday afternoon, so it was pretty much slammed.

Michi looked around, seeing kids with dark hair wearing dark clothes, and suddenly felt very self conscious of his own cherry blossom hair and pale yellow shirt. Kizashi was unsympathetic, letting go of his hand and pushing his son forward a little.

"Well? You were the one who wanted to come here so badly. Go make some friends."

Not having the heart to tell Tou-san that he'd changed his mind, but also not wanting to go talk to all these scary kids, Michi just. Didn't. Do anything. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, pretending to look for his victim, but it was long enough that Tou-san started to look worried. Thankfully, Michi caught sight of a woman - hadn't she been at his second birthday party? - whispering to her son and nudging him in Michi's general direction.

With both parents coercing their children forward, the four met somewhere in the middle, in the general area of the swing set.

"I'm Haruno Kizashi," Michi's tou-san said, shuffling out of the way when Michi tried to hide behind his legs. "And this is my son, Michirou. Say hi, Michi."

After a moment, Michi obliged, mumbling something and bowing a little with his head. Thankfully, the woman and her son didn't seem to mind Michi's atrocious manners.

"I'm Uchiha Mikoto," said the boy's mother, offering a polite smile. "And here's Itachi."

"Nice to meet you," Itachi said, bowing at the waist like the perfect heir he was. (How did Michi know this was the next in line?)

What happened next was like something out of an old western movie, sans abandoned ghost town and boots with stirrups. The two kids sized each other up, bodies tense and ready to dart. Stranger danger, and all that.

Michi couldn't take the tension for very long.

"Your kaa-san was at my birthday party. She gave me a stuffed turtle and I named him Shisa-chan 'cause when I hold him his stuffing goes shi-shi-shi." Michi's arms were up to demonstrate how he held his toy, though he sort of looked like he was throttling an invisible enemy and shaking them around. (At this point, Mikoto and Tou-san wandered over to the benches to chat about boring adult things, like the political climate between Konoha and Iwa. Ick.)

Itachi was unphased by Michi's waving arms, nodding seriously as if he was at a war meeting and not a playground. "It's a fitting name," he said. "I have a toy kunai. Otou-sama said I shouldn't name it 'cause it was a toy, but I named it Ku anyway. 'Cause it's a kunai."

"Cool. Wanna play ninja?"

"Sure."

"Alright."

They went back to staring at each other, neither sure how to begin. And then, after a minute or so-

"I... actually don't know how to play."

For some reason, Michi wasn't surprised.

"Well, I'm gonna be the good nin, and you'll be the bad one."

"Why do I have to be the bad one?"

"... Fine, but I get to be the good one next time. _You're_ the good nin, and _I'm_ the bad one. I've kidnapped the Daimyo's daughter."

"He doesn't have a daughter."

"Pretend he _does_."

"Okay."

"I've kidnapped the Daimyo's daughter, and I'm taking her to my evil fortress of terror. You're supposed to try and stop me before I get to the castle, which will be... hm... on the other side of those trees."

"Do I get a team?"

"Nah, the Hokage thinks you're super cool so he's sending you all by yourself."

"Got it. ... How do we start?"

"You start over there," Michi pointed at the slide on the opposite end of the park, "and I'll start here. When you're ready, say 'start' really loud so I can hear you, and then I'll start running that way and you'll try to stop me."

Itachi nodded, turned, and trotted over to his designated starting point. Michi tensed. When his new friend shouted, the pink haired toddler was off like a rocket, or a very drunk mouse, making a beeline for the trees.

His loss was swift and humiliating.

They played that way for a solid hour, switching back and forth between being the "good nin" and the "bad nin" until the gap of skill between them seemed less like a great chasm and more like a small hop.

They were in the middle of a game - and Michi was close to getting the princess to his evil fortress of terror! - when Itachi tripped, catching himself on his hands. They were both a little sweaty and out of breath. Michi stood over Itachi, his legs on either side of the Uchiha's sides, pointing an invisible sword at the back of Itachi's head.

"I win," gasped Michi, chest heaving, "finally."

Itachi nodded, too out of breath to respond properly, but Michi understood all the same, flopping to the ground. The two boys turned onto their backs, staring up into the trees and trying to slow down the beating of their hearts. Even after their bodies had settled, they lingered, doing their best impressions of starfish - arms and legs spread apart.

Neither was sure how much time had passed, but it couldn't have been long - the sun was still high in the sky, from what they could glean of it between the leaves. 

"We should probably go back." Michi spoke quietly, almost in a whisper, as if afraid to disturb the silence. Itachi just hummed noncommittally, so they stayed another few minutes.

Then, Itachi propped himself on his little toddler elbows, leaned to one side, and poked Michi's forehead with two fingers. "Let's go."

Michi smiled-

_Itachi smiled. "Forgive me, Sasuke. There won't be a next time."_

\- and promptly had a seizure.

* * *

Kisame whistled like he was impressed, even though literally nothing impressive had been said.

"Epilepsy, then?" He guessed, whistling again when Michirou nodded - it was painfully obvious that he only did it because it pissed his partner off. "Never woulda guessed. That's what the meds are for?"

"Yeah. They're pretty common, so I tend to just snag some whenever I drop by a pharmacy. They make me a little sleepy, but, hey, better than twitching on the ground. Itachi and his mother took me to the hospital. The doctor I was given was a civilian one who tried to just pass it off as stress, so Itachi insisted that I should be taken to his family doctor. She's the one who diagnosed me. Without Itachi, I probably wouldn't have gotten a diagnosis - or medication - for another few years."

Kisame didn't say anything other than to adopt a thoughtful visage. Suddenly, Michi's napping habit made sense, as did his lack of gusto in his fight against his childhood friend.

The two stopped with no visible signals or warnings, watching a Konoha border patrol pass by, perpendicular to the Akatsuki member's route. Once clear, they started forward again, crossing the border between Fire Country and Grass Country. The current base wasn't far now. Because ninja patrols passed by so often, they had to be more careful, even with the minor chameleon genjutsu that Michi placed on them.

They were quiet the rest of the way, not willing to risk giving away their position so close to base. Deidara would be pissed that he had to move again, especially because he had just finished setting up his room.

No one watched when two figures, one tall and broad, and the other small and slim, slipped into a cave. Privacy seals gleamed, and their chakra signatures vanished.

* * *

Sasuke woke with a jolt, nearly tearing the IV needle from his arm with the violence of his movements. His head snapped from one side to the other, and he blinked hard enough to feel his eyelashes brushing his cheeks. 

After a moment, he relaxed, recognizing the hospital room for what it was. The curtains were drawn, but he could still tell that it was late evening - or early morning? - outside. When he turned his head to the left, he saw Kakashi-sensei, back propped up against several pillows and holding his signature porn book in hand. Noticing Sasuke's awakening - how could he not, Sasuke literally almost fell out of bed, and he hasn't done that since he was four - he smiled at his student.

"Good morning, Sasuke." Ah, it was early morning, then. "It's about seven in the evening, now." Sike. "How do you feel?"

Instead of answering the question, Sasuke looked to his other side, and saw Naruto, sitting in a chair next to his bed. He was asleep, head pillowed on his arms, hunched over to lean on Sasuke's bed. He couldn't see much of his friend's sleeping face, but his forehead was all scrunched up, and he was making sleepy little noises. Sasuke thought he heard something like "hm hum ramen," but he wasn't sure.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke asked, turning to face his sensei again.

"If you mean in this room in particular, it's because Naruto wanted us to be in the same room, so he could 'make sure those idiots don't hurt themselves worse, or break out again, dattebayo.' If you mean the hospital in general, well." Kakashi gestured at his thigh, which Sasuke could see was bandaged pretty thoroughly.

Sasuke's face hardened. That's right. Michi-nii - no, Michirou - was there. 

And he got away.

"Maa, Sasuke, let's not get so worked up." Kakashi was back to reading his porn, having no trouble scanning the words even though he had one eye closed for some reason. "Not good for your health."

Sasuke was going to ignore his sensei's command-suggestion completely, but Naruto chose this time to conveniently rouse himself, blinking blearily all the way.

"Hhhuzzat?" He mumbled smartly, rubbing his eye with one fist, and then yawning so wide that his jaw popped. Then his eyes focused. "Oh, Sasuke-teme, you're awake! Itach- wait, where'd he go? I swear aniki was just here."

"Mission," grunted Kakashi-sensei, turning a page, but didn't give any other details. Naruto and Sasuke knew better than to ask. Naruto, in true Uzumaki fashion, began to babble like the loudest brook in the world. Sasuke put to use the hours and hours of practice he had in blocking Naruto out.

Senseless rambling was to Naruto as brooding was to Sasuke, and brood he did, dark eyes fixed on the faded green curtains.

Nobody noticed when a small silk moth fluttered away from where it had perched on the outside of the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was in sandwich format. bread, toppings, meat, toppings, bread. sasuke, kisame, michi-chibi, kisame, sasuke. i just thought that was kool. posting without editing, because editing is for n00bs. lmk if you saw spelling mistakes or whuteva  
> edit: fixed some minor things. forgot that i got rid of kakashi's sharingan so i fixed that, and i also added "moth" after "silk" because silk doesn't just fly away lol


	4. Arc I, Part 3 - Konohagakure no Sato: Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If I stick to my outline, this chapter will be mostly Michi-centric.  
> ...  
> Upon completing this chapter, it is indeed mostly Michi-centric. But like. Only sort of.  
> UNEDITED. Pls tell me if you find anything wrong or whuteva

Michi's room was nearly empty. The walls were decorated only by a single large Luna Moth, wings fluttering and unmarred save for a small scar in the costal margin of the fore wing. She rested there for a moment, nibbling on a few blades of grass, before lifting off with visible effort. She nearly fell straight out of the air, but quickly found her balance and drifted over to land on her summoner's chest from where he was laying on the bed. When she reached really hard, she could almost brush the tips of her wings on his ears.

She wasn't concerned when Michi failed to acknowledge her touch. He'd changed ever since he put that mark in the piece of metal called a hitae-ate.

"They're okay," she whispered, pushing her antennae under the collar of that awful black-red cloak, zipped up partway. "Confused, and a little frustrated, but okay." She fluttered uncomfortably as Michi rumbled. Jii-san said that humans make that sound a lot - grunting - when they don't feel like using words. She understood the feeling.

"The kids are upset," she continued, prodding at the underside of his chin in an attempt to get a reaction. The most she got out of him was a flicker of green eyes in her direction. "Hound-san is holding them together for now."

Michi leaned his head away from her touch - she couldn't help wilting at that, wings drooping to touch at his collarbones - and sat up.

"Thank you, Tsubasa-san," he said. His voice was flat. 

"Chan," the moth corrected - chan was so much cuter, after all.

"Whatever you say, Tsubasa-san-chan." And there was Happy Michi again! She felt her antennae straighten - when had they curled? - and tapped her front legs happily from where she was still clinging to his chest. T-tap, t-tap.

She felt the arm of his cloak curl tenderly around her abdomen, holding her steady when he stood and walked over to his simple two-tiered shelf. Michi smiled, Tsubasa churred. At a wordless shifting, she obligingly walked up to hold onto his shoulder, high up enough to look over the collar of that stupid cloak. She made a mental note to eat the thing as soon as he wasn't looking.

The shelf was stuffed full of scrolls, one stacked on top of the other, none of them labeled. She couldn't guess how, but he located the scroll he was looking for and pulled it smoothly from its place. Without looking, he tossed it onto his bed, then grabbed another and gave it the same treatment.

"Never make it easier for an enemy to steal your things," he advised. "Half of those scrolls either explode or trap you in a genjutsu when you open them. Only I know how to find what I'm looking for.

Tsubasa hummed. She didn't want to say that she'd rather play with her brother than put all that effort into something that seemed so trivial, so she stayed silent.

When the scrolls were unrolled, two weird looking seals gazed at them like eyes. Michi put a palm in each one, and with a loud poof - she nearly fell in her fright - one revealed a wakizashi, a sort of short, one handed katana, and the other revealed a matching holster.

"Is Kisame-san around?" Michi asked, as he attached the holster to his hip, and the wakizashi to the holster, et cetera. After a moment of concentration, Tsubasa pronounced her positive verdict. Let no one tell you that having a sensor moth summon wasn't useful.

"Want to watch us spar?"

"Of course!"

It was only later that she realized; her summoner hadn't asked about the single most important Konoha nin.

_"You're the one who wouldn't look at me earlier," Itachi gritted out, glaring with Sharingan eyes, his father's bleeding eyes, his brother's crying eyes, hateful, confused, hurt, whywhywhy-_

_\- and still so kind, underneath all the pain, still so loving, underneath all the betrayal._

_Michirou's chest **burned** with self loathing. He nearly choked on it. He wished he would._

* * *

Answering the knock at his door, Kisame saw his assigned partner first, the green moth second, and the wakizashi third. He already knew the answer, but he asked anyway- "Kenjutsu spar?"

The moth answered, sounding very self important. Her thorax visibly puffed up, noticeable even when hidden partway behind Michi's pink hair and the collar of his cloak. "Of course! Why else would Michi-sama seek out such a lowly fish as _you_?"

The two Akatsuki mouthed 'Michi-sama,' similarly baffled by the new development.

"What's with your friends and calling me a fish, huh?!" Kisame jabbed his finger in the Haruno's face, close enough to make green eyes cross. Tsubasa took personal offense.

Hypothetically, Kisame could have sliced the damned bug in half when she flew at him, battering his face with feather-soft wings and kicking at him hard enough to tickle, but... well, she was still a baby, according to Michi (Kisame was _good with kids,_ kids just weren't good with _him_ ), and it didn't hurt anyway. Besides, Michi would give him that wide eyed look, and probably cry a little. Like the time when Kisame knocked his miso over. Or the time Deidara blew up a painting he was working on. Or when- Well, the list went on.

For being such a hard-ass, Michi somehow was also extremely emotional.

At the moment, though, he was being extremely unhelpful, offering nothing other than laughter when Kisame felt a leg go _up his nose._

Somehow, they ended up making it out of the hallway and to the mini-arena. Samehada leaned against the wall, replaced temporarily with a white steel katana. It was a loaner from Michi. (Kisame was scared just to hold it. If Michi was being truthful, which was a tossup, then this thing was worth 30 million ryo. Being Akatsuki paid well, but not that well.)

After a few stretches and basic katas - it was fun to compare the difference between Konoha and Kiri techniques - they finally made the seal of confrontation.

It was childish, but it reminded them that this wasn't an all out fight.

Tsubasa, from her perch on the ceiling, nearly missed it when it started.

It was like trying to track a lightning strike in the way that it was already finished by the time you realized it had happened in the first place. It wasn't clear who had charged first, if there _was_ a first.

Metal met three times, maybe four, in quick succession. To Kisame, it felt like nothing more than a t-tap tap tap, but for Michi, each blow struck like a hammer at his bones.

He gritted his teeth, green eyes darkening even under the florescent lights, then ducked low and twisted around. White metal struck deep into the dirt floor - where Michi's knee had just been - and was torn loose. Kisame felt himself grin.

Killing intent washed over the room, and the two finally got serious.

* * *

Deidara woke from his very pleasant nap to the feeling of _oh my Izanagi I'm going to die!_ He was out of bed before he was even fully awake, fists up and at the ready even though he sucked at taijutsu.

Except, his room was empty.

He blinked, humming confusedly, and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. No, Zetsu hadn't tried to eat him again, no, Sasori wasn't sabotaging his clay... Coming to a decision, Deidara grabbed his clay pouches, some kunai, and put a shirt on. As an afterthought, he also draped his Akatsuki cloak over his shoulders.

Sue him, the things were warm. And kind of stylish.

The killing intent was still strong enough to make him stagger a bit when he opened the door, but Deidara wasn't forced into this stupid boyband because he was _weak_ , dammit, so he pushed forward. From what he could tell, the trail led right to the training room.

Ah. Made sense.

Deidara was glad that the training room had no door, because he was allowed to slip into the room without interrupting the - frankly - dramatic spar.

He could tell that both ends were holding back considerably, because otherwise the whole damn base would have been leveled, but they still saw fit to flit around and do backflips and stuff, like they were special.

Drama queens, the both of them. They were perfect for each other.

The place was full of smaller-than-average moths, all with the same identical scar on their costal margin. On the ceiling, on the wall, even in Deidara's hair.

"Hey, bug bitch. Come over here, hm," Deidara muttered to the nervous peanut gallery. As one, they shuddered, and then - with a loud pop! - the resident explosions expert had a giant moth landing on top of his head.

"Dei-chan!" cried Tsubasa, sounding as close to tears as a moth could get. "Please, help, they're gonna kill each other!"

"Nah," Deidara swatted at an antenna that was wiggling its way toward his ear, "they're just playin' around, hm. They'll barely be tired afterward. And stop calling me Dei-chan!"

The Luna Moth went quiet, only a wiggling of green wings betraying her cynicism. 

At this moment, Michi leapt backwards to put some space between him and his opponent-partner thing, and pushed his hair out of his face.

"Ah," he said intelligently, catching sight of his audience, "Dei-ku- whoa!"

Deidara blinked, so he missed it, but somehow, Michi had tripped so hard that he literally rolled to a stop at Kisame's feet, who used the opportunity to level his funky white katana at the pale expanse of skin at Michi's throat.

"I win. Again," Kisame rumbled, on the edge of laughter. Michi nearly dropped his wakizashi in a fit of sheepish giggles.

"That might just be the most embarrassing loss yet," Haruno sighed, allowing Kisame to help him to his feet. They made the seal of reconciliation, re-holstered their weapons, yadda yadda, Deidara stopped paying attention. He was about to head back to his bed, when-

"Ah, Tsubasa-san! Dei-kun! Hold on a second."

\- dammit, un.

"Tsubasa-san, you can go ahead and go home. I won't need any other reports for a while yet." Tsubasa gave a moth salute, then disappeared in a plume of smoke. Deidara tried very hard not to cough, but he probably ended up looking constipated instead, so it was a lose-lose situation in the end.

He didn't bother to ask about the "reports." Michi's business was Michi's business.

"And Dei-kun-"

"Deidara, un-"

" _Dei_ - _kun_ , Leader-sama wanted you to meet him in his office."

"He's here?" Deidara asked incredulously, too startled to argue nickname details. 

"Yeah. Apparently it's pretty important. Something about the Ichibi, I think - I didn't really ask."

"Well it would've been nice to know what I'm getting into, but thanks anyway."

Deidara rolled his eyes. Michi rolled his eyes right back. Kisame rolled his eyes because his coworkers were ridiculous.

Tsubasa wasn't sure why, but when she returned home, she rolled her eyes, too.

* * *

"Itachi-kun," said Sakura, her voice dry. But it wasn't Itachi who answered the door.

Mikoto looked tired and drawn, with her roots greying and her hands twisting with early onset arthritis. Nonetheless, she smiled politely at her youngest son's teammate.

"Sorry, Mikoto-sama-"

"Just Mikoto-san, please, Sakura-chan."

"- then, Mikoto-san. Sorry. I thought you were Itachi-kun. Is he home?"

"Yes, he's out back. Will you two want tea?"

"If it's not too much trouble."

"Of course not. Come on in. You can leave your shoes there."

Sakura toed her sandals off as requested, slipped into a pair of slippers - white, impersonal - and then followed the Uchiha matriarch into the house.

And what a matriarch she was. Everyone had always known Mikoto as a silently powerful person - Fugaku, may he rest in peace, would never have married her otherwise - but her strength had become overwhelmingly clear almost as soon as her husband passed. She'd almost singlehandedly fostered a strong friendship with the Aburame and, to the surprise of everyone, the Inuzuka. She took over as the Chief of the Military Police, as well as being a single mother and a newly appointed Clan Head.

Sakura couldn't help but feel a little cowed just by being in her presence. This woman was _incredible._

She was led to a large Kotatsu and sat down. Pleasantries were exchanged. ("Mother is well, thank you for asking. Yes of course she would like to get together sometime! No walnuts, thank you, I'm allergic. Ah, if you have jasmine tea...? Thank you. It's delicious.") After what seemed like way too long, Mikoto excused herself and went to find her oldest son.

When Itachi returned, his mother was nowhere to be seen. Privately, Sakura was thankful. Just because she admired the woman didn't mean she wasn't deathly terrified of her.

"Sakura-chan," Itachi said. Only years of knowing the man clued her in to the faint concern in his voice. "I'm afraid Sasuke is out with Shisui right now. But Okaa-san says you're here to see _me_...?"

"Yes," she confirmed, clutching the half empty teacup in both hands. Though it was the middle of the summer, she'd been unable to shake a chill since that day. "Do you have time?"

He didn't say a word, or even nod or anything. He just sat down, took a walnut, and gave Sakura his full attention. It took a long moment for her to say anything. Finally-

"Tell me about Michi-nii. Uh. Please."

Internally, Itachi braced himself to be talking for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to make this a hell of a lot longer, but then I decided that it would make more sense to just call it good here. From here on out, the story will be set strictly from Michi's childhood. Up until this point, it's been mostly setup and fillers, to give a sort of sense of how this fic will work and what you can expect, but I'm done foolin' around now. Get y'all's butts in gear, because it'll be almost 100% plot from here on out. Answers, here we come!


	5. Arc I, Part 4 - Konohagakure no Sato: Homogenous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boom!! Michi has turned three. It's the worst decision ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am way too fond of kids spewing fake words and incorrect grammar and just. Plowing right on. When adults try to correct them.  
> Also! I in no way condone some of Fugaku's behavior! I believe that he was raised in a sexist society, and despite rationally knowing better, I imagine that sometimes he would fall on old habits. Mikoto doesn't take no shit, tho, so there's no need to worry lol

After weeks of begging, Michi was deemed old enough to go out and play by himself, as long as he always kept a kunai on him. In preparation of this, Mebuki took turns teaching their son - their three year old boy - defensive techniques. 

"If you want to learn, you'll learn," Kizashi had explained to him one morning at breakfast. "But don't expect it to be easy. Once you start these things, we won't let you stop until- well, at least until the war is over. Do you understand? This isn't a game."

_Boys crushed under rocks, girls with holes in their chests, men and women and children all screaming. Kiri, Kumo, Iwa, Suna- enemies. Killers._

_Minato smiled. Dead. Obito cried. Dead. Rin stared. Dead. Dead dead dead-_

_I have to prevent this._

Michirou nodded. "I know, Tou-san."

After weeks of training - stretches, katas, spars - he was left home alone for the first time.

"I'm sorry, Michi. Baa-chan's getting too old to take care of you." Mebuki was kneeling, in full gear and frowning. Her blond hair fell over the leaf insignia on her forehead, but Michi knew it was there. Mebuki was smiling to hide her nerves, but Michi knew those were there, too. "There's money where?"

"Under the sink."

"Right. And who do you go to if something is wrong?"

"Either Minato-san or Mikoto-san."

"Right. Spare key?"

"In the bushes outside."

"Right. There are groceries in the fridge, and your clothes are all folded in the closet. Don't go into Tou-san and Kaa-san's room, okay?"

Michi smiled, nodding along politely. Mebuki didn't look any less nervous; in fact, she looked like she was close to breaking into sweats. Or tears.

"Maybe I should stay after all. I'm sure Hokage-sama-"

"Kaa-san." Mebuki startled at her son's firm tone. "I'll be okay. It's just a week."

She left not long after that. Michi tried to focus on the ticking of the clock instead of his own fear.

The room felt cold without either of his parent there. There was no Baa-chan to make him peanut butter sandwiches, either. His mom wouldn't heat up any milk for him. His dad wouldn't pick him up and swing him around like he weighed nothing more than a small cat.

He curled into the corner of the couch, kunai clutched in a white knuckled grip, and tried to pretend that his parents were just taking a nap in the next room.

Nine o'clock. Ten o'clock. Eleven. Noon. One.

A bug flew into the window, and Michi startled so badly he nearly stabbed his own hand.

He sighed.

Stood up.

Stuck the kunai in his belt.

Took one step.

Another.

In a daze, he walked through the front door, locked it behind him, descended the many flights of stairs between him and the first floor, and stepped into the street. He felt vaguely like everyone was looking at him, like everyone was an enemy nin that was somehow aware that his parents weren't around to protect him.

He walked faster.

It felt like thirty seconds and four years all at once before he reached his destination. He'd never actually been to the Uchiha compound, but he knew that Mikoto and her family lived in the dead center. Itachi had said so.

There weren't any guards at the entrance, like he had somehow believed subconsciously. Well, not that he could see. He wouldn't be surprised if they were hidden in the bushes or something.

Shinobi.

After a moment of hesitation, he stepped inside.

The Uchiha compound was sort of like a miniature Konoha. It had its own market - mostly weapon shops and food stands - on the outer ring, followed by a ring of tiny houses meant for orphans, then a ring meant for civilians, and then finally the inner ring for the moist prominent shinobi with the head house in the center.

Worst of all, though, was that the place was absolutely stuffed with Uchiha.

The clan hadn't gotten a reputation of being a bunch of hardasses from nowhere. The vast majority walked with their shoulders back and noses up, offering a stiff nod at most in greeting to their family. The ones who smiled seemed to be only part Uchiha - generally, they had lighter hair, or darker skin, or a rounder nose.

Michi stuck out like - well, like more than a sore thumb. He stuck out like a broken one. Between the pink hair, the stature of a toddler, and the less than depressing sense of fashion, he felt sort of like a space alien.

He half-jogged all the way to the head house (he hoped he had the right house), trying to ignore the dark eyes that tracked his progress from all sides. He only just managed to not bang on the door like a madman. Madchild. Whatever.

Michi had never met Fugaku, so he was lucky enough to see the man answer the door.

"Can I help you?" He said tiredly, frowning hard enough to make Michi think that it must hurt.

"Hi," Michi said on autopilot. "I mean. Uh. Hello, Uchiha-sama. Um. Is Itachi-kun here?"

Michi watched the Clan Head's face closely, so he figured out the answer before anything was actually said. He felt his heart sink down to his toes.

"My son is busy training right now," Uchiha-sama said, "and doesn't have time to play."

"I can! Train with him!" Michi blurted. "I mean. Um. If it's just kunai and katas and stuff. You don't gotta teach me any Uchiha tek- technu... technee...?"

"Techniques."

"Techniques. You don't gotta-"

"Don't have to."

"- teach me any of them-"

"Those."

"- and Tou-san and Kaa-san are both out on missions right now and he's the only friend I got."

"The only friend you have."

"The only one I have, right."

Fugaku appeared to mull this over. He folded his arms, closed his eyes. After a long moment- 

"My son hasn't told me about you."

"I guess he's kind of quiet at home too, then."

"Indeed." Despite nothing on his face actually changing, the man seemed troubled by this realization. "Setting that aside for now, I'm afraid that-"

"Dear? Who's at the door?"

Fugaku failed to hold in a twitch. He may be one of the most powerful nin in the vicinity, objectively, but when his wife took on that warning tone... he felt like a genin again.

Mikoto somehow managed to shove her way into Michi's line of sight while maintaining the air of a polite housewife. Her hair was pinned up in twin buns behind her ears, and she held a cleaning tool that he recognized as a hataki in one hand. There was dust on the elbows of her navy yukata.

"Ara, Michi-chan! It's been a while. Come in! Itachi's on the back porch. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you."

Fugaku closed his eyes for a brief moment, then stepped aside and allowed Michi in.

The toddler tried not to grin too much. He settled for a smug noise under his breath instead.

Mikoto chattered at him all the way through the house about this and that. If it were anyone else, Michi might've blocked her out, but as it was, he paid close attention.

Itachi had asked about him. Mikoto was glad that her son was making friends. His favorite snack was dango.

It was probably only a fifty second commute from the front door to the back, but it felt like at least twice as long.

Fugaku was already waiting for them, even though Michi hadn't noticed that he had gone ahead in the first place. He'd probably done some ninja nonsense. Like a shunshin. Or Sharingan nonsense - whatever.

Itachi was slowly and methodically going through katas that stretched his pushed his three year old body enough that he was clearly sweating, but he hadn't started shaking yet. Emphasis on the yet. He was so absorbed in his exercise that he didn't notice anything amiss until his mother put a hand on his shoulder. 

"Michi-kun is here, Itachi. You both will be training together," Mikoto said. Her voice was gentle and motherly, but lacked that tone that most adults used on kids under the age of seven. "His parents are both on missions right now."

Itachi turned to face Michi and suddenly the rest of the world faded away.

Itachi smiled-

_-kneeled before the Hokage. Hiruzen looked sad and tired and so so defeated. "I accept, Hokage-sama," said ANBU Weasel. He didn't bother to hide the tremor in his voice, or the deep, aching sadness. There was no point anymore. Sasuke was all that mattered. He was everything._

_And he would have to witness everything around him become nothing._

_Hiruzen closed his eyes. It wasn't the answer he wanted to hear, but he knew it was the only one that would do any amount of good. He didn't speak. Didn't move. Didn't want to breathe._

_ANBU Weasel - no, Uchiha Itachi, shunshinned away._

_He had a deal to make with one Uchiha Madara._

\- and moved forward to catch Michi as he swayed. He wasn't smiling anymore. No one was.

Mikoto gasped, a hand flying to her mouth. Fugaku stared very intently (not the time to picture lasers coming from his eyes, Michi!) as if that would solve all his problems. Hey, maybe it would.

Michi regained his balance, putting a hand to his head and waiting to regain his hearing. Slowly, Itachi's voice faded in, and, oh-

"-chi! Hey, breathe! Can you hear me?"

Mikoto said something about a glass of water and swooshed away, but not before helping her son help Michi down to sit. The pink haired boy gripped his friend's hand - a wordless plea of "shut up." Or maybe Itachi was reading too much into it, and it was a much more polite "thank you for worrying but I think I'm okay."

Regardless, he fell silent, and watched the yellow clad chest rise and fall in practiced, measured movements.

_Breathe through it breathe through the nausea breathe through the dizziness in two three four hold two three four out two three four repeat-_

"Sorry," Michi said at long last, with genuine remorse in his voice. "Didn't mean to make you worry."

Itachi watched his friend carefully for any hint that he would have a seizure again, like that day. Michi's eyes were still closed. Fugaku stood with his arms crossed and watched, because that was what he was good at, and he had no idea how to deal with strange kids that showed up out of nowhere and then proceeded to nearly pass out on his back porch.

So sue him if he activated his Sharingan in an attempt to figure out what the hell just happened.

"Michi, are you-"

"You're just a kid," he interrupted. Itachi looked confused, so he said it again. " _You're just a kid_."

"Well, yes." The Uchiha heir made a face like someone had just said something completely off topic and strange. Well, to him, that's exactly what just went down. "But so are you? ... I don't understand."

Michi had the urge to protest, because he _wasn't_ a kid, but stopped.

Why did he think that? Where did that come from? He and Itachi were the same age, and yet somehow he felt completely ostracized.

Thankfully, Mikoto came back with a small cup of water. Itachi backed away to let his mother do her thing. 

After completing her Mom no Jutsu, Mikoto helped the toddler to his feet.

"Here, let me help you inside, we can get you a bed-"

"No!" Itachi felt his jaw drop when Haruno Michirou _dodged his mother._ "I want to train with Itachi! I promise I'm okay now, really!"

_If you don't train now, you'll fall behind. If you fall behind, Itachi will be forced to do that again- whatever that was._

Itachi had to stay Itachi, even if Michi had to become ANBU Weasel instead.

He wouldn't accept any other outcome.

* * *

"Who is that child?" Fugaku demanded. One eye was on his son, the other on his wife. Itachi was teaching his friend - Michi, if he remembered correctly - some basic taijutsu katas. Fugaku was surprisingly okay with an outsider learning an Uchiha technique, no matter how trivial. He decided to chalk it up as a learning experience for Itachi.

His wife looked all worried like she hadn't since she'd been pregnant, but there was an edge to it that he hadn't seen since her days of active duty.

"That child," she whispered, voice even, "is the son of Haruno Mebuki."

Fugaku wracked his brain, trying to remember where he'd heard that name before.

"Ah- your old genin teammate, right?"

"The very same." Mikoto cast another glance to the back porch. She'd been doing that a lot. "I met with her husband at the park a few months ago. Michi-kun and Itachi made fast friends, so of course I told his tou-san that they were all welcome over anytime."

"And that- the attack that he had?"

"Epilepsy."

Fugaku called upon every last second of his training to keep his shock from showing his face. He knew his wife saw it anyway, but it was worth the effort.

"Epilepsy?"

"Yes, dear, epilepsy."

"And his parents are training him to be a ninja anyway?"

"They were originally planning on training him in being a civilian businessman. But..."

"But what, woman?"

"You watch your tone with me, Fugaku."

"Of course, honey. I didn't mean-"

"Well whatever. Regardless, he apparently hunted down some genin and coerced them into teaching him some things."

"Coerced them?"

"He was one and a half, at the time."

"One-!"

Fugaku let his voice die in his throat, turning back to observe the back of a pink head with new eyes. His wife sighed softly, stepping forward to lean into his side. He allowed it, which was Fugaku-speak for a full on bear hug.

They stood there, all sad eyes and heavy hearts, as two toddlers trained for a life of violence and war. Mikoto buried her face into Fugaku's shoulder, and allowed her lips to twist in fear.

Fear for these children and the light in their hearts.

Later that day, as the sun was dipping down close to the horizon, Mikoto wiped her hands on her apron and slid the back door open, intending to hunt down her kids for dinner. She stopped short.

The wind ruffled the grass, pushing it to tickle at two sleeping faces. They were back to back, facing away from each other, but their legs were tangled at the knees and ankles. The soft evening sunset emphasized the baby fat on their cheeks, and their dirtied, bruised palms.

Mikoto pushed a hand harshly against her lips, whether to hold back a smile or a sob, she didn't know.

The moment was peaceful, but she couldn't quell the dread in the back of her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listened to neji's theme on repeat while writing this. 20/10 would do that again  
> ...  
> update: now listening to kimimaro's demise. might be crying a lil bc he deserved better


	6. Arc I, Part 5 - Konohagakure no Sato: Hostage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the songs i listened to while writing this one included Fi's Gratitude from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, which made me a little emotional, as you might be able to tell.
> 
> if you didn't look for cool sticks as a kid, you weren't living

A tiny fist connected with a tree trunk. The skin over the knuckles was split, and the bark was stained a dark red, but the punches kept coming.

Breath in - stinging pain - breath out. 

Rinse and repeat, sans the rinsing.

The sun was rising between the trees, painting a splotchy pattern of light-dark over the grass. Michi noticed the warmth on his feet, and decided to allow himself a short break. Sweat dripped from his chin; he pulled a face.

"Michi-kun?" Said Itachi's tired voice. Michi blinked, then turned on his heel to face his (best?) friend.

Itachi was rubbing the sleep from his eyes still, his hair and jammies ruffled from a good night's sleep. His feet were bare, toes curling in the grass. Blister patches were applied liberally all over his palms.

With a giggle, Michi stepped forward and carded his hands through Itachi's hair, flattening and fixing it. No sound escaped Itachi's mouth, but he did sigh a little and lean into the touch. If he were any other kid, he might have been toeing the line of falling asleep on his feet.

Michi pulled away, quickly hiding his hands behind his back and stepping slightly to the left to block Itachi's line of sight to the tree with blood on it. Generally speaking, three year olds didn't react well to their friends bleeding, even and especially when the injury was self inflicted.

"Did I wake you up?" Michi asked, trying not to sound too innocent. Itachi shrugged, which was Uchiha-speak for "yes, but I was probably gonna wake up soon anyway, so it's no big deal." 

"What're you doing?" It took a lot of effort on Michi's part not to sweat (well, not to sweat _more_ ) at the question.

"Just some katatas."

"You mean katas."

"Sure, whatever."

"This early?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Mm."

Itachi blinked sleepily - slowly, like a cat - and then yawned wide enough that it looked painful.

"So, why are you hiding your hands?" Michi's eyes widened, but Itachi had already grasped him by the elbows and yanked his hands into view.

Itachi didn't cry or gasp, just chewing on his lip slightly and studying the split knuckles, still bleeding hard enough to bead up and fall down along his fingers, staining them red.

The damage was done, so Michi sighed and allowed Itachi to make his careful inspection, trying not to pout too much.

Having come to some sort of conclusion, Itachi turned and shifted his grip to Michi's wrist in one motion, and dragged his friend towards the house. Michi let it happen, stumbling along.

Michi was forced into the bathroom and ushered to stand on the toilet. Itachi climbed up to stand on the edge of the bathtub, and together, the two washed Michi's hands in the sink. Itachi was silent as he dabbed carefully at the cuts, no emotion shown on his face except gentle concentration.

Absently, Michi made note of the fact that Itachi seemed happiest when taking care of other people.

"You're not upset at all?" Michi asked at long last, watching carefully for any sign that Itachi was angry or irritated. Instead, what he saw... well, he looked confused at worst.

"No, I'm not," he decided at last. "I get why, I think. You noticed, too, right?"

Itachi's eyes were fixed firmly on where he was applying ointment to Michi's hands, but the Haruno nodded anyway.

"Yeah. If we aren't strong, we could-"

_"Forgive me, Sasuke. There won't be a next time."_

The sting of tears had become unfamiliar to him in the past few weeks. Michi found himself choking on the lump in his throat, dipping his head low and hiding his face behind his hair. He could hear Itachi sniffling.

Itachi had finished treating and wrapping his knuckles before Michi felt okay to lift his head again. When he did, he saw Itachi chewing on his lip again, fat tears spilling from his eyes and rolling down to fall from his jaw and land on his sleeping shirt. Sensing his friend's gaze, Itachi turned his head sharply away, hopping down to the floor. Michi quickly joined him, and as one, the boys leaned against one another, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip.

A yellow-clad arm hugged Itachi close, allowing the Uchiha to turn his face to cry into his shirt. Michi could feel the other's body shuddering with silent sobs, and wondered where Itachi had learned to cry so quietly.

"Ne, Michi-kun, I don't want to die," Itachi whispered, his breath trembling.

"I won't let you die," Michi said, with all the confidence of someone who had thought of such things before. "I _won't let you_. So just trust me, and I'll protect you, okay?"

Itachi had started crying again, but he nodded into Michi's shoulder.

_"Forgive me, Sasuke."_

He would change things.

_"There won't be a next time."_

He would. Or he'd die trying.

* * *

Michi had gone back to bed, and was woken a few hours later by Mikoto's gentle touch on his shoulder.

"Good morning, Michi-kun," she sang, "I made you breakfast."

The boy was awake in seconds. He loved his dad's cooking, but nothing could quite compare to the cooking of the Uchiha matriarch.

Itachi was already at the table, sitting with his hands in his lap and feet swinging, looking for all the world like crying hadn't been the first thing he'd done that day. Michi rocketed down the hall and into the chair that was unofficially his, wiggling as he waited for Mikoto to take her seat.

"Itadakimasu!" The three chorused, and dug in.

Breakfast was a quick affair, during which the boys learned that Itachi's father had left late last night on a last-minute mission last night, and would probably be back as early as the next day. They also listened to some of the latest happenings, both within the clan and without. Apparently, some woman named Yoshino was trying to convince her new husband to try for a child. How exciting!

After shoveling down their food (or politely eating it, if your name was Mikoto), Itachi and Michi collaborated in an attempt to convince Mikoto to take them to the park. She caved easily enough, so after quick baths, they all got dressed for the day and were off.

The Uchiha compound was busier than Michi remembered it being last time, which just proved that being an early bird in in the Uchiha blood. Michi normally didn't feel like doing anything until at least noon.

Itachi reached up to grab his mother's hand, and she gladly took it with a smile.

Mikoto was correct in her assumption that if Michi wanted to hold hands, he would ask, so she didn't offer. Michi was glad.

The Haruno boy kept up a steady stream of polite (if censored) conversation with Itachi's mother. He'd learned a lot from her this morning about shinobi life, even if she didn't realize she was giving anything away.

His parents were both chunin, so they didn't have the experience (read: trauma) that more powerful nin did. They didn't touch their hips and thighs reflexively, as if searching for weapons that weren't there. They didn't glance at every door, window, or shadow in the corner every twenty seconds on the dot.

They didn't walk in a way that bespoke of a confidence in their own power to crush their enemies.

Briefly, he wondered about the capacity of Mikoto's chakra, and if she had been the source of Sasuke's lightning affinity.

_Sasuke grips his arm, grinning, mad with power. His eyes are filled with budding madness and heart is full of hate. From his hand, lightning jumps like a dance, chirping loudly in the manner that gave the technique its name._

_Now he stares indifferently down at the people who he used to call friends. They still care for him; he can see it in the way they whisper his name to themselves, stunned just to see him standing there._

_He feels lightning sing in his veins, but he does not sing with it._

Mikoto was frowning at him now, eyeing how Michi had pressed his hand against his head. The boy quickly relaxed.

"I'm fine," he said, "just a bit of a headache."

Mikoto obviously wasn't convinced, but Itachi had his back, snatching her hand again and tugging her along with the stubborn sort of quietness that only Itachi could really pull off.

The rest of the walk to the park was uneventful for the most part. Michi thought he saw Obito somewhere in the compound, but he couldn't be bothered to check and be sure. When they arrived, it was to a park full of clan kids all the way up to age ten. Mikoto was all too happy to let her son and his friend run ahead.

They decided without deciding to play the same game as last time.

"We should find sticks," Michi suggested, already looking around, "to use as katana." He turned to Itachi, who had picked up a twig and was studying it intently.

And so the search for good sticks began.

They wandered into the forest, towards the Aburame compound, staring intently at the ground. Occasionally Itachi would pick up either a twig or something more akin to a log than a stick, but for some reason, neither could find anything that was just right.

After what was probably ten minutes but felt like an hour, Michi sighed. "Maybe if we head closer to the wall? The trees are thicker over there."

Itachi straightened from where he was staring at a worm, nodding and waiting for Michi to lead the way.

As they walked, Michi felt his gut doing something like twisting, or clenching. The forest was quiet: not a bird chirping, no sound of leaves brushing against each other.

Crunch, went the leaves underfoot, deafening in the silence.

Seeing Michi's face, Itachi palmed at his pocket, inside which was a kunai, and stopped. 

Both boys had subconsciously silenced their breathing. 

"Something's wrong," Michi whispered.

"I'm surprised you noticed," answered a voice, and everything went wrong.

Itachi blinked, and in the space of that moment, Michi felt something grip the back of his shirt and hoist him into the air, the collar rising up and pressing deeply against his throat. He choked, hands flying up to try and pry the fabric away. His bandaged knuckles made his hands clumsy, so his was blue faced and sputtering by the time he had enough air in his system to clear his head.

There was someone behind him, and that someone was holding him in the air like a naughty puppy. He could feel something sharp digging into his back.

In front of him, Itachi was holding his kunai up at the ready and shaking, his eyes wide and chest fluttering.

"Uchiha," said the person (male, probably in his late 30's or early 40's), sounding sadistically pleased. "Put the knife down and come with me, or this one dies."

 _He'll kill me,_ Michi realized, growing very still. _He'll really kill me. I'll die._

But then what would happen to Itachi?

With a growl that sounded more animal than human, Michi twisted around the sharp thing and kicked back, aiming for where he guessed the groin was.

His foot met empty air.

"Sit. Still!" The man grunted, and made some kind of jerky movement.

The blade was sharp. So, so sharp. He felt his skin split across his back, shoulder blade to hip, but the pain didn't hit him for a long moment. But when it did, he _exploded_.

Itachi screamed something wordless, something, anything, to stop the man from dealing the killing strike. Thinking fast, he gathered his courage-

-and placed his kunai at his own throat.

The man paused, tanto still drawn back to stab though Michi's tiny heart - Michi, who was sobbing and writhing and staring at Itachi with eyes that were so so scared.

"What's this?" The man rumbled. He still sounded faintly like he'd just heard a good joke.

"Don't hurt him!" Itachi commanded, shaking so hard that he nearly slit his own throat on accident. "Or I'll- I'll do it!"

"Itachi, no, don't, run away-"

The man tilted his head. Itachi couldn't look him in the face, but he sensed his smile.

"You'd kill yourself for this one, Uchiha?" He asked, laughter in his voice. "How noble. How funny! Still, I guess I'll keep him alive."

Itachi felt an impact on the back of his neck, and pitched forward.

"For now, at least."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the slow updates from here on out. school is starting up soon, and now i only have access to a computer for like 2 hrs every night which, considering the pace of my writing, is like no time at all. add on that my family is visiting and i'm preparing for college and you get,, this nonsense
> 
> ALSO! let me know what you thought of the crying scene. my justification for such rando emotions is that they're three and itachi hasn't experienced the kidnapping, so he's not all emo and whuteva


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